Return of the Full Moon
by BeccaG
Summary: Set during Season 7. Willow is very happy with Kennedy, but when she starts to have dreams about Oz, curiousity interupts the relationship. Everyone snaps when one night Kennedy tells the gang about her encounter with a mysterious werewolf.*Complete*
1. Default Chapter

She was running, but from what? There's a list of so many possibilities : vampires, demons, and there was that other thing - werewolves. She kind of missed the feel of them in a way. They were frightening, that was for sure. But not anything was "scary" anymore. Maybe weird, or unique, but not scary. She'd seen way to many unusual things for anything to be scary. Except maybe Oz and Veruca together, but why was she worrying about that now? It was 3 years later, she had Kennedy, and Oz was gone. Gone. Willow stirred in her sleep, going further into her nightmare until suddenly it turned into more of a peaceful dream. There he was, standing there. Oz. With his dreamy smile, and punk appearance, still wearing that black nail polish. He looked good. But then again, it was only a dream.

The morning at the Summer's house was hectic. Willow was preparing breakfast with Dawn at her side and Buffy was sitting at the table. Spike wasn't around, and Willow figured he was probably at his crypt, sleeping the day away. Andrew was still asleep on the couch and Giles was out well - somewhere. Kennedy entered the kitchen still in her pajamas and gave everyone a cheery "good morning" and then sat down at the table along with Buffy. 

It was that night that Willow got time to think more clearly about her dream. She was being chased, by what seemed like a werewolf and she only knows two of those - one of which were dead. She sat in silence on the couch watching out the window. The moon was up, not a full moon, but a nice crescent bright moon which anyone could admire. 

Kennedy was out patrolling, heaven knows why. There hadn't been much vampire activity for days since Caleb arrived, but there was nothing better to do. Giles was just incredibly boring all the time, and she was not in research mode. That was Willow's thing. She was a potential Slayer. She needed to be up and about. Although she hadn't brought anyone with her, she still felt safe and strong. She thought of herself powerful. She was meant to be a Slayer. Then an interesting thought hit her. Well, it wasn't technically a thought more of a noise. It went a little something like this.

"Prepare to die, Slayer," the incredibly stupid and just risen vampire crawled from the gravestone and dashed towards Kennedy's presence where he missed by far, due to Kennedy's dodge. 

"Man, you things really are dumb," Kennedy taunted the vampire, but it wasn't much fun. This was going to be very, very, easy. And indeed it was. In under two minutes Kennedy had the monster by the throat, jamming the wooden stake into it's non- beating heart. 

"You're good," Kennedy heard the comment and she knew it wasn't from the vampire. She looked around, for someone, something, but only saw the empty darkness which filled the cool night air of the cemetery. 

As the potential Slayer walked back into the Summer's home, she sniffed the air. It was a new action to her, and she didn't really know why she did. Had someone else been there besides the usual Scooby Gang and Potentials? Andrew of course, but this was someone else. She shrugged and carried on her way to her sleeping quarters. Not many people were home. Just the Potentials, Andrew, Dawn, Giles, and Anya. Once again, Kennedy shrugged and slept through the night with ease. 

Willow was anxious the next day. The dream had tempted her to find out when the next full moons were. Her impatience grew as she learned that today was the first night of the full moon process. 


	2. Trouble

Unfortunately, Buffy found out about Kennedy's little "adventure." 

"Look, I'm okay. Do I look hurt? I can take care of myself!" Kennedy snapped in front of the one, the only, the true Slayer. 

"I don't have time for this," Buffy said back, looking at Willow, thinking she should be coming in about now. Willow didn't catch Buffy's signal, and just kind of stood there looking at the two. Too much was on her mind at the moment. The return of Oz. Well, in her dreams. It would be so wonderful to see him, he could possibly even help with the battle against The First. But no, it was only just a dream. Buffy stormed off outside probably to go to Spike, but no one knew where Buffy was these days. Kennedy sat down on the couch, pouting, and then turned to Willow. 

"It's not right that she bosses us around like that," she said quietly to the redhead, staring at the blank television. 

"Buffy just has a lot to deal with right now, we all do," replied Willow, although her thoughts were elsewhere. 

Kennedy ignored Buffy's harsh comments about going out at night. Face it, there was nothing else to do. Before exiting the house, she yelled to Willow where she was going. 

"Hey Will, I'm going to patrol, see you later," she called, although Willow was upstairs.

And upstairs she was, again thinking. Why did she think about it so much? She wanted to forget it, let it go. But whenever she tried, his face appeared once more. Oz. She had told him before. He would always hold a special place in her heart, but he was gone. She sighed and calmly spoke to herself.

"Get over it, Will. He's not here, and he's not coming back," Willow sighed once more and was about to crawl into bed, when she thought she heard the call of Kennedy. 


	3. The Encounter

The Potential Slayer was again in the same cemetery where she had killed the senseless vampire the night before. 

"Sheesh, I thought Buffy would be proud of me or something," Kennedy whispered. Although she didn't know why she was whispering. Perhaps she was afraid The First was near. 

But it wasn't The First that was prowling the night near the Potential. Kennedy shivered, although it wasn't cold in the dark graveyard. She was growing impatient. If it was a vampire that was hiding in the shadows, wouldn't it of shown itself by now? Kennedy found herself sniffing the air the same way she did when she entered the Summer's home the night before. 

"That smell," she said to herself, and then continued to search around the cemetery. And there "it" went. Kennedy immediately formed into her usual fighting stance as a large furry ape like creature jumped towards her. She grabbed the being by the arms and threw it above her, in a roll-like fashion. The "thing" was on the ground and in an instant was up on it's, well paws. This was not a demon. Kennedy was no brain like Willow, but she knew this was not a demon. It came towards her again and she thrusted a large punch to it's head, and it scurried away, whimpering. Kennedy found herself retreating home. 

"Giles!" the young Potential slammed the door of the Summer's home, awaking Andrew who was asleep on the couch. The English ex - librarian was sitting at the dining room table, sorting out some research papers that Kennedy figured Willow had brought up from her computer. 

"Kennedy, I must say, Buffy will not respect your actions of going against her orders," Giles said, all clean and smart like. 

"I know, I know, but I fought the most amazing creature!" Kennedy jumped as Andrew came into the dining room. 

"A new demon? I'd figure most of them would of left by now," Giles replied back, frowning at Andrew who as eating the last of the home's pantry. 

"Funny thing is, I don't think it's a demon. Looked a little like King-Kong, but I doubt he would waste his time here now," Kennedy smirked back, also noticing Andrew. Before the watcher could answer back to her, Willow came in who had also awoken from a deep sleep in her bedroom. 

"A werewolf," the witch said, sitting down at the dining room table with Giles. 

"Whoa, you mean, a _real _werewolf? Those things exist?" Kennedy asked, curiously.

"Indeed they do," Giles replied back staring at Willow. 

Willow raised her head. "He's here." 


	4. The Talk

"Who?" Kennedy said back to Willow, raising an eyebrow at Giles. At that moment Xander walked in the door, with new grocerys to replenish the food for all of the girls.

"Hey, even if we are fighting the world, we still got to eat! Oh. Wrong moment. This is non joke being serious moment. I get it," Xander said, setting the bags onto the counter. 

"Oz," whispered Giles, looking at Willow. 

"Oz? Oz is here? Now? Where?" Xander looked around, and even to his surprise sniffed the air. 

"Hold it!" Kennedy yelled, crossing her arms and looking at Willow. "No one's said anything about an Oz before," she continued. Willow grabbed Kennedy's arm lightly and brought her upstairs into their room. Xander sat down on the couch with Andrew, and Giles just stared.

"One time, I was watching Wizard of Oz with my brother Tucker, and we kept saying that if the lion ever brought the moves on Dorothy, than - ," Andrew stopped his useless talk to Xander and went upstairs.

Finally, Willow came down the stairs wiping a strand of red hair out of her face as she sat down on the couch with Xander.

"So, Oz is really here, huh?" he said to his friend, looking at the full moon.

"Yeah, I guess so. I've been having dreams about him lately. So it would make sense of he is," Willow said back.

"How'd she take it?" Xander asked, curious to see how the young Potential would handle the situation.

"I think...she needs to think," the Wicca replied. Willow left her friend on the couch and went into her bedroom later to be joined by Kennedy.


	5. The Arrival

The next morning Kennedy wasn't in the mood to talk. The potentials were waiting for their breakfast prepared by Andrew and Dawn, and Buffy was at the new High School. Willow awoke later that day, and went downstairs to join into the feast of Ego Waffles and Orange Juice. 

"Hey," Willow risked saying the first words of the day to Kennedy, hoping maybe a cheery "hi" would be returned.

"Can we talk later?" Kennedy replied. Willow was stunned that Kennedy wanted to talk at all. She never told Kennedy about Oz, and she wanted to talk? Whoa. 

At that moment, there was a slight knock at the door. The potentials all looked outside from the window. Some of them got up. What could harm them during daylight? 

"There's a van outside," said Rona, one of the Potential Slayers. 

Willow wanted to hide. She knew he was here. A part of her wanted so badly to see him, and another part wanted to run like the wind. Xander opened the door. 

"Hey, look, it's - ..." Xander didn't finish. 

"Hey Xander," Oz walked inside full of suitcases and was wearing once again that wool coat. 

"Hey, look, it's Oz!" Xander yelled, turning his head towards the stairs where Willow was. Kennedy came to the door, a little frightened. 

"So, you're the werewolf," Kennedy crossed her arms and put a strand of hair behind her ear. She was wearing some nice jeans, with a black tank top. A stake was in her back left pocket. 

"Guess you could describe me that way. I'm Oz," said back the stranger, holding out his hand for Kennedy to shake. 

"Yeah, I know. I know a lot about you. I even know how I almost killed you last night," the Potential said back, firmly and confident.

"Oh...," Oz didn't know what else to say. And then he saw her. She was standing on the stairs, beautiful. Her hair had grown longer, but she was still Willow. Redhead, beautiful, Willow. 

"Hi.." Willow stammered, 

"Hey," the werewolf said back, taking his hand back although Kennedy never shook it. "I'm here."


	6. I'm Here

They all took a liking to the new stranger, but Willow knew they wouldn't like him too much at night. Everyone greeted Oz with a cheery grin, all except Kennedy of course. Willow tried to avoid him. 

"I honestly don't know why I came back," Oz started, the Scooby Gang huddled around him. Willow knew however, that Oz probably wanted to see how she was doing. It would be very dangerous for him to visit, but they had the supplies to keep their "army" out of danger. Oz went on for a little awhile, until those awful words struck the witch. "Will, can I talk to you upstairs?" the werewolf tilted his head and stood up, heading toward the long staircase.

"Uh, sure," Willow replied. She could practically sense Kennedy glaring at her. In all the world, she would never want to make Kennedy angry, but how could she say no to Oz?

Oz and Willow sat down on the queen sized bed. There wasn't any real talking for a little while, until Oz started the conversation.

"Look, I know you're in a relationship," Oz said, his eyes never leaving Willow. 

"Oz, we don't have to go through this. You're here. You can help us. That's all that matters," she stated, certain and sincere.

"I know, but if you wanted to talk, I'm here," he said back, taking off his wool coat. 

"You always will be," Willow stood too, and headed toward the door. 


	7. The Visit

The night was rough. Once Buffy returned home, Spike was with her and everyone was excited about the night's events with a _real_ werewolf at the house. The plan was, that they would use Spike's basement to hold Oz and Spike would look after it during the night.

"I don't give a bloody drat about that thing," Spike said to Buffy, not liking the fact of puppy guarding a werewolf.

"Well, we do. Please, just watch him," Buffy would say back. The two argued until finally Spike gave up. 

All the Potentials crawled into their sleeping bags, Andrew assumed his position on the couch, Dawn went into her room for bed, and Willow and Kennedy went to their rooms. Down below before Spike walked into the basement, Oz waited for the change. 

"You know, it's nice. You going to visit her and all," It seemed like the voice erupted from nowhere. Oz turned around and there she was. No, it wasn't Buffy, or Willow, or any of them. It was "her." The "her" he had nightmares about, and the "her" he regretted every laying eyes on. Veruca. But Veruca was dead. 

"You're dead," Oz said back, turning from Veruca and facing the wall. 

"Guess they didn't tell you about the big bad around here in Sunnydale, did they?" Veruca said back to Oz, glaring and just watching him.

"I...no. You're dead. Get out of here, the process will start soon," Oz said back to "her," trying not to face it. Veruca appeared in front of Oz. 

"Don't you get it? I'm with you, Oz. I am, and I always will be. The two of us are meant for each other. That was, until you killed me," she stated, calmly and slyly, just like the real Veruca would have. 

"That's right. I killed you. You're gone. Dead," Oz said back, again turning away from her. 

"The moon will rise and you will change. There's not a thing you can do about it, Oz. So just deal with it. If you join me - ," Oz was no longer listening. The mad, hungry, werewolf however, was. Veruca slipped into the shadows. She had news to tell The Bringers. 


	8. Crime

Spike wasn't having much fun. He even got hit by the werewolf, and was cleaning a wound in his right cheekbone. It was then that Buffy came down the basement stairs.

"Bloody thing scratched me!" yelled the vampire, and Buffy just kind of watched the werewolf. She remembered the times when Oz would just stare off into space, or put his arm around Willow. They were good times, and truly, she did miss him. Not that she liked the fact of babysitting him, but she was glad he was back. 

"Better he hit you than rip apart some poor family," replied Buffy, still concentrated on the monstor.

"Not like he'd have anything to rip apart. Even Clem skipped town," Spike said, still rubbing the bruise on his cheek. 

Everyone awoke the next morning, anxious to see how Oz was doing. Willow walked downstairs, for she awoke first. Expecting to see Oz on the floor and Spike asleep, she almost screamed at what she saw. Trails of blood lined the basement floors and Spike was asleep on his cot. Red lines leaked from the walls, and the floor was soaked with a coat of fur. The one thing that was missing was Oz. Kennedy joined Willow on the stairs, and her eyes widened at the mess. 

"How could he sleep through that?" a voice appeared behind them. It was Andrew, who was just looking at Spike. "I mean really, even I couldn't sleep through a slaughter," he continued. 

"It wasn't a slaughter! Oz is alive. I think," said the witch, almost tears in her eyes. Kennedy put her arm around Willow. 

"That is strange, Willow, but I don't think anyone could of gotten in," said Giles, after he had heard of the news downstairs. 

"You know what's strange? I have to replace more windows!" yelled Xander as he walked in, a cut on his foot. "There's glass all over the floors in there, and it just so happens I forgot my slippers," he continued. The dining room windows were completely shattered, and Giles didn't know why he hadn't realized it before. 

"Yeah, but what's even funnier is that how could a vampire that's killed two Slayers not even stir in the night," interrupted Andrew, bringing up the subject again.

"Simple. He was drugged," said Willow, who came in wearing latex gloves. 

"That could work," replied Andrew. 

"We have to find Oz," continued Willow. "I don't care about The First, I don't care about Bringers, I don't care about anything until I found him," she added. Kennedy looked hurt. Willow grabbed her coat, grabbed some magic supplies that she threw into Dawn's backpack, and started to head out the door.

"Kennedy, will you come with me? I'm not so great with the hand to hand combat," Willow asked, hopeful that she would come.

"I just, I can't," replied Kennedy, before she went back to her bedroom. 


	9. Conversation

Willow started toward the door, unhappy and just plain pissed off. Who would go through all the trouble to kidnap a werewolf, well, while it was a werewolf. Sure, Oz wouldn't be that hard to capture while he was a human but once the beast inside him came out, he was a hard fight. Willow's thoughts turned back to the blood on the walls, and the fur everywhere. She shuddered, as if the cemetery wasn't cold enough. Kennedy wouldn't help her, Buffy wouldn't help her, she just had to figure this out herself. 

"She's coming for you," Veruca said, looking at Oz. Oz didn't like the fact of Willow coming to "save" him. Especially if she was coming alone. 

"Good," he lied back to The First. 

"She's not prepared. She's nervous. But still, she comes. Am I the only one who thinks that seems a little ridiculous?" Veruca continued, never leaving her eyes off the werewolf. 

Oz shrugged. "I guess so," he said back, following Veruca's gaze.

"Well then, the witch will have to pass through my boys," it was a voice that Oz had never heard before. It appeared right next to The First, but Oz could guess who it was. All the potentials were talking about a "Caleb" who had arrived in Sunnydale. 

"You must be Caleb," Oz said to the man in the reverends outfit. "But no one said you were Father Caleb," he added, kind of grinning. Caleb gritted his teeth and looked at Oz. 

"I don't like to play games. Especially with a boy who can't even stay normal three nights a month. Anyhow, your friend should be arriving about now, so I have to take my leave and go watch her be killed," he said, with one last smile. Oz just stared at him. 


	10. Battling Confusion

Willow was in trouble. It wasn't a terrible trouble, but Bringers did happen to scare her. Sure, she wished Kennedy were here, and sure, she hated to use her magic, but if it was to save her own skin, a spell or two wouldn't hurt. Willow raised her hands as her eyes turned a dark murky black. Not that the Bringers could see them, but they were very frightening. The dark pools of black concentrated as the Wicca began to mutter some ancient words. Just as the spell was about to begin, the door to the vineyard swung open, and Willow felt a hand on her shoulder. The redhead's eyes turned back to their normal color and she turned around, to see Kennedy standing behind her. 

"You came," Willow whispered, looking at her and ignoring The Bringers. Kennedy nodded.

"Yeah, but less talk more fighting," she replied, pointing at the dagger that barely missed Willow's throat. Willow began to work her spell again, as Kennedy fought off the attackers the best she could, one by one. It was then that the door swung open again as Xander and Giles came in with long pointed swords and started to hack away at The Bringers. It was an amazing sight. Here Willow thought, her friends didn't care about her, or her plans, and then they came to help her. It wasn't amazing, it was beautiful. As the spell dragged on, Bringers dropped to the floor. Kennedy, Giles, and Xander all turned to look at her with smiles upon their faces. Willow did not smile back. Although she loved to see them there, Oz was still no where in sight. 

"Perhaps we should begin our search for Oz," said Giles, looking to the redhead. 

"Or, perhaps not! That freaky Caleb is still lurking around here somewhere, and yes, I do plan on keeping my other eye," said Xander, turning to Giles. "Look, Will, I'm in on the hunt for Oz, but I don't know if we can hold Father Pokeyness," he continued, glancing around the room. 

"We have to try," replied Willow. Her voice was not shaky, and she was not nervous. She was confident. She needed to find Oz. She had to find Oz. 

The four of them looked all around the front parts of the vineyard, undisturbed by Bringers. They were all nervous of catching up with The First, but kept their minds off it. Willow wasn't near the others at the moment, she was looking through a dark room with a flashlight. It was then she heard the voice.

"So, he left you, huh? That's got to be rough, sitting around waiting for him to come back, when you know he couldn't ever. But then again, he did, didn't he? He came back, your little girlfriend scared the heck out of him, and wait a minute, if I remember correctly I think he left again? Yes, I think that's the way it went," The First said. Although the shape and form was again Veruca, the werewolf that had almost killed Willow. 

"Where is he?" Willow said to Veruca, trying not to stare at her. 

"Who? The wolf? Oh, he's somewhere safe. Where he can't hurt anyone. That is, until I set him loose. Free to roam the wild, free to do whatever he wants, free to roam with _my _power," The First went on.

"What do you mean?" Willow said, fury in her voice.

"What do I mean? Oh, well, let me put it this way. I give a little bit of my power to the wolf, and three nights a month, well - let's just say there'll be a few more funerals than usual in Sunnydale. Not to mention he can help me with my little "battle" against the famous Slayer," Veruca went on. 

"Never going to happen," the voice erupted from behind The First/Veruca. Kennedy held a long blade out behind The First. "There's no Bringers here, your little Priest guy obviously isn't here, so it's just you. You in your helpless body of air. Never to hurt anyone," Kennedy said, looking at The First. 

"So what are we waiting for?" Xander appeared behind Kennedy along with Giles. "I say let's go find our wolfy pal," he went on. All four started to dash around the vineyard, until finally an unusual door was found under some barrels of wine.

"Who's first?" asked Xander as they all stared into the hole of darkness.

"I'll check it out," said Kennedy as she jumped through the door. Giles, Xander, and Willow waited for the Potential to come out of the tunnel type setting until a large yelp was heard. Willow jumped down, landing on her bottom. When she opened her eyes, she couldn't believe what she saw. Kennedy was on the floor by a big cage, a Bringer's dagger pierced into her left shoulder and the werewolf panting and whimpering in a dark cage. There were Bringer's bodies lined on the floor. But what surprised Willow most, was the humungous gash in the cage. The werewolf slowly walked out, walked to the wounded body of Kennedy, and tried to hoist her onto it's back. As Willow walked closer, the wolf snarled and backed away into the cage. Giles and Xander appeared in the doorway and tended to the body of Kennedy, but Willow couldn't stop staring at Oz in his werewolf formation. And to everyone's surprise, a full moon outside, the furry werewolf's body changed into the body of Oz. 


	11. Clearing Things Up End

It would never be clear to Willow why, or how Oz changed, but she finally thought she figured it out. The gang was home, Kennedy was in the bedroom being tended too by the other potentials, and Oz was sitting on the couch. He had many scars and many bruises, but otherwise he was still the same Oz. Willow sat down next to him, staring off into nothing.

"I just don't understand it," she started, she finally turned her head to look at him.

"I do," replied Oz, almost in a whisper. "Your friend, Kennedy, we get each other. You know? I know that sounds weird, but I could feel it. Under all that fur, I dug it. You care about her, so I care about her. You care about me, so she cares about me. Something like that," he said, looking at her and watching Buffy walk in the door. Before Willow could reply, she also turned to Buffy. 

"Hey guys. So, Oz, I need to know how long you're going to be around. Not that, your in a hurry to leave, but there are some more girls coming," Buffy said, unaware of what happened. Silence. "Well, just let me know uh....some time," Buffy said before heading upstairs. 

"I think I get it," the witch replied, and took Oz in a long emotional hug. 

Everyone knew it was just a visit. They couldn't baby - sit the werewolf forever. Sure, Oz could stay for the long battle, probably die, but hey, if he could get out while he still could it was worth it. All the potentials begged him to stay, however both he and Willow knew this "vacation" was over. Oz packed his things, (not that he ever unpacked) and stood by the front door surrounded by everyone. Even Kennedy, who instead of frowning at Oz, actually smiled. 

"Next time you fight a werewolf, come and find me. That is, after you know - the full moon and stuff," Oz said to Kennedy, and this time when he extended his hand she shook it. Willow smiled. "Take care of her." 

Kennedy smiled again before Oz slipped through the door. "I will." 


End file.
